I was made very uneasy in my mind by Mrs. Pocket’s falling into a discussion with Drummle respecting two baronetcies, while she ate a sliced orange steeped in sugar and wine, and, forgetting all about the baby on her lap, who did most appalling things with the nut-crackers. At length little Jane, perceiving its young brains to be imperilled, softly left her place, and with many small artifices coaxed the dangerous weapon away. Mrs. Pocket finishing her orange at about the same time, and not approving of this, said to Jane, – “You naughty child, how dare you? Go and sit down this instant!”
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 23. Dickens comically satirizes upper class parents who neglect responsibility for the care of their children. The dysfunctional dynamics of the Pockets and their bad parentings of seven children, including a baby, are highlighted here. Mrs. Pocket gets engrossed in a conversation about titles, forgetting that she has a baby on her lap playing with a dangerous nutcracker. And when young daughter Jane rescues the baby from possible injury, Mrs. Pocket accuses her of being disrespectful. The daughter turns out to be a better parent than her mother and gets reprimanded for it. Mrs. Pocket is not just a negligent and inattentive mother obsessed with her own importance, but she is also harmful to her children.